Golf driving range



Feb. 1, 1955 F. FoRTlNo GOLF DRIVING RANGE Filed Feb. 12, 1952 2Sheets-Sheet l INVENToR. FRA/VK FORT/NO Feb. 1, 1955 F. FoRTlNo2,701,140

GOLF' DRIVING RANGE Filed Feb. l2, 1952 2 SheelZS-SheefI 2 I rlr,

United States Patent O GOLF DRIVING RANGE Frank Fortino, Newark, N. J.

Application February 12, 1952, Serial No. 271,177

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-176) This invention deals with a practice golf drivingrange having greens with underground conduits leading from the holes toa central forward collecting station through which balls entering theholes may be collected. It includes provision for signaling meansactuated when a hole is made. Also, traps are included as hazards and asmeans for collecting balls driven away from the greens. Besides these,other novel features are involved.

Practice golf driving ranges are in use now, but they do not havepopular appeal, mainly because they lack a personal incentive. In thecase of the present invention, there is an incentive, rst to get on thegreen aimed for, and to obtain a hole in one. When the latter occurs, asignaling means is provided to immediately notify the player and theattendant, which makes possible the development of immediate competitiveinterest, and also allows the awarding of prizes in any predeterminedmanner.

The invention can be more readily understood by reference to thedrawings in which Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a practicedriving range laid out according to the present invention. An enlargedcrosssectional side view of one of the holes on the greens is depictedin Figure 2, which also shows details of the signaling means that may beemployed. Similar numerals refer to similar parts in the figures.

Referring again to the drawings, numeral 1 represents a golf course orrange, with individual playing units 1", on which the driving is to bedone. Players stand on rubber mats 2, 2', 2, on which golf ball 3, or 3is teed. Each teeing location 2 may be provided with a readily visiblenumeral, color, or letter 40 or other indicia, and the balls 3 driventherefrom are preferably marked with a corresponding color, numeral,letter or other indicia.

The range is scattered with small greens 4, 4, preferably on a mound orraised ground 5, 5' having cups 7, 7', or 7" leading to undergroundpipes or conduits 10, 11, 14, 9 etc. through which the balls 43, 22,etc., travel after they have entered the cup. These pipes obviously arelarger than the balls and are pitched so as to slope toward the forwardcollecting area, thus enabling the golf balls to travel forwardlythrough the conduits 10, 9 etc. (which are preferably interconnected asat 10'), and drop into a collecting cage 21 or similar receptacle in apit 23, which pit may be provided with steps 24 on which one may descendto remove the balls.

It will be observed that such a golf driving range is preferablysituated on a forwardly descending slope which thus eliminates the needfor deep excavation of conduits 10,2131, 14, etc., and also restrictsthe required depth of pit Traps 50, 51, etc. may be provided in randomspaced relation, to collect some of the driven balls. Such traps may bemade of rear canvas stops 18 and 18 supported by horizontal rods 52which, in turn, are held by vertical supports 17. The bottoms 19 and 19of these traps are preferably dug out and graded downwardly toward holes20 and 20', to enable the ball to roll into holes 20 and 20 leading tosloping conduits 8, 12, 13, 28 etc. inclined forwardly with a pitch toenable the balls to roll therethrough to the forward section of therange, through pipe 29 which terminates preferably in the basement ofthe attendants stand, where the balls are collected. These pipes arepreferably interconnected, as at 31.

Each hole (or cup) 7 on green 4 has adjacently disposed ags and 16acting as signaling means. The details of their operation are morereadily apparent from Figure 2. Switch 61 mounted in the upright section30 of conice duit 8, serving as the means forming hole 7, has a trippingmechanism such as sensitive lever 42 which is tripped by ball 22', as itfalls into the hole. Electrical leads 33 from switch 61 pass up agpole32 and enter light 35 which is lighted by actuation of the switch. Thelatter may be connected with a timing mechanism which switches out thelight after a preset time interval. Flag 15 may be made of plastic of acolor different for each hole. Such a flag 15 may be made of atriangular plastic enclosure having sides 34. Another similar flag 16having sides 37 and of the same color, may be adjacently mounted on pole36 and remain lighted during the duration of the driving period toindicate the location and identity of the hole 7. The electric bulb inthis ag may be fed electric current through lines 38 and cable 39 whichis preferably led underground to the forward section of the range Wherea control switch therefor may be provided.

In playing the game, the player on location 3 (marked with a numeral 40)places ball 3' (which is marked with the location number 3, as at 41) onmat 2 and attempts to drive the ball into a preselected hole. If thedriven ball lands in one of the traps 50, 51, etc., it falls into thehole 20 due to the grading 19, and travels forwardly through a conduitsuch as 13, thence through conduits 28 and 29 and is collected at theattendants stand in the forward section of the range. A driven ball alsomay strike a green 4, 4', 6", etc. and then roll olf onto the adjacentlydisposed lower ground from where it may be picked up by the attendant.Or, the ball may be driven to roll into cup or hole 7, 7', 7", etc., onthe green, whereupon it passes over switch lever 42, tripping it andcausing it to illuminate light 35 and ring bell 55 at pit 23, to bringthe fact to the attention of the attendant. The ball then rollsforwardly, say through conduits 11, and 9 and into collecting cage 21,whereupon the attendant can remove the ball 22 and identify the playerfrom the marking 41 thereon.

As is apparent from the foregoing, it is highly desirable to place theconduits at least partially underground and, in fact, it is preferableto have them completely underground. However, there can be instanceswhere such conduits may be placed on or even above the ground, and suchdisposition is not to be excluded from the present invention.

I claim:

In a golf ball driving range having a forward ball collecting area,teeing mats in said area for teeing the balls, at least one green, a cupin said green into which the ball may roll, a conduit connected withsaid cup and extending, in forwardly pitched relation, to the forwardball collecting area, thereby enabling the ball to roll back from saidcup to the ball collecing area, the improvement comprising distinctiveindicia identifying each mat, corresponding distinctive indicia on theball driven from a similarly identified mat, a collapsible switchprojecting from the wall of said cup into the interior thereof andadapted to collapse as the ball passes through the cup into said conduitwithout impeding passage therethrough of said ball, an electric circuitconnected to said switch, which circuit is closed when said switch iscollapsed, illuminatable ag signaling means over said cup, which isilluminated upon closing of said switch, distinctive visible indicia onsaid iiag signaling means enabling a player who has teed off said mat toobserve said signal as his identified ball reaches the ball collectingarea, at least one upright stop disposed in said range, each stop actingas a trap, a graded area in front of each stop leading to a hole formedat the low point in said graded area, a conduit connected with the holein each stop and extending, in forwardly pitched relation, to theforward ball collecting area, where the balls may be collected andretrieved.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,667,481 Lange et al Apr. 24, 1928 1,799,263 Swain et al Apr. 7, 19312,164,808 Everett July 4, 1939 2,450,125 Dunfee Sept. 28, 1948

